The anarchic Adult Swim hit Rick & Morty has seen a lot of theories come from its online fanbase, but one of the wildest connects the show to the classic 90s kids's cartoon The Magic School Bus. Beginning way back in 2013, Rick & Morty has evolved from a zany parody of family sitcoms and sci-fi tropes into a surreal and subversive satirical series that has spoofed everything from Marvel movies, to the Saw franchise, to over-enthusiastic Game of Thrones fans.
Created by voiceover artist Justin Roiland and Community creator Dan Harmon, Rick & Morty follows the misadventures of the titular duo, the dim-witted but well-meaning Morty and his irascible, amoral super-genius granddad Rick. Now entering season 5, Rick & Morty shows no signs of slowing down its mile-a-minute pace, and the show’s densely-packed scripts have left fans with all manner of theories about the Adult Swim show ranging from the inane to the surprisingly believable.
Some Rick & Morty fan theories are difficult to buy into but some, like the idea that Rick and Morty have seen their own show, add an interesting meta-fictional element to the series. One of the more out-there fan theories online is a Reddit user’s belief that Rick was once married to Ms. Frizzle, the protagonist of the classic 90s kid’s cartoon The Magic School Bus. On the face of it, it’s pretty difficult to imagine the reckless Rick pairing up with the sweet schoolteacher, but like many Rick & Morty fan theories, this one is surprisingly convincing when all the available evidence is taken into account.
Some viewers may recall that long before Rick took Morty across the galaxy and throughout countless dimensions on madcap adventures, a more educational and less filthy-minded riff on the same theme could be found on kid’s TV. Ms. Frizzle was the protagonist of the 90s kid’s cartoon The Magic School Bus, an educational adventure series that saw the chirpy teacher and her students travel through time, the solar system, and even the human body to learn about science. The series was recently revived by Netflix as The Magic School Bus Rides Again, but this fan theory claims the show's influence was never far from the small screen. The theory posits that Rick’s unseen ex-wife (and the mother of his daughter Beth) is Ms. Frizzle and that the pair split up due to Rick’s cynical attitude toward life and science (or possibly due to his drinking problem, in which case the breakup may have led to Rick's bleak outlook). Whether Rick regretted starting a family so young or Ms. Frizzle left him due to his substance abuse issues is unclear, but the surrounding evidence for this seemingly silly theory is hard to ignore.
Some of the most compelling evidence for this Rick & Morty fan theory comes in the form of the early outing "The Ricks Must Be Crazy", wherein Rick reveals he has implanted nanobots in Morty to enable his grandson to transform into a car. If viewers buy into the Magic School Bus theory, this experiment could be seen as a natural progression after creating The Magic School Bus’ eponymous mode of transport who this theory claims could be Rick and Ms. Frizzle’s son (who Ms. Frizzle gained full custody of, for reasons that will be obvious to anyone familiar with Rick's conduct throughout the show). The theory also notes that Beth’s evident interest in science, which led her to become a surgeon, as well as her nonplussed reaction to Rick’s may zany misadventures and experiments, could evidence a childhood spent growing up with Rick and Ms. Frizzle as her parents. But there’s more evidence for this fan theory, such as Rick’s advice to Morty in "Rick Potion No. 9" that he should stop pursuing love as it will only end in heartbreak and destruction.
Rick’s "Anatomy Park", a theme park housed in the body of a homeless man, may be used by the series to spoof Fantastic Voyage and Jurassic Park. However, the episode’s premise also resembles classic installments of The Magic School Bus in which the titular vehicle would travel through the human body for the students to learn about biology in up close and personal terms (sometimes too up close, as the show's infamous "girl, that's a booty hole" moment proves). Whether the park was a collaborative project between the pair before their breakup or a cynical attempt by Rick to monetize their shared interest is unclear, but the similarity between "Anatomy Park" and The Magic School Bus’ educational excursions into the human body is hard to deny.
Red hair is a recessive gene, meaning it is sometimes thought to skip a generation. This would explain why Rick’s granddaughter (rather than his daughter Beth) is the one blessed with ginger hair, and although this point is hardly enough evidence of Rick and Ms. Frizzle’s dalliance on its own, it does make this Rick & Morty fan theory more convincing (especially when taken in tandem with Rick asking his ex Unity for an orgy with “all the redheads” early in season 2, indicating that the character might have a consistent type).
As fun (and well-researched) as this Rick & Morty fan theory is, there’s also a lot of reasons to believe it may not be true. For one thing, it’s rare for an established property to crossover with another series without addressing the crossover for four seasons, and for another, it’s unlikely that Adult Swim owns the rights to The Magic School Bus given the show's recent Netflix revival. But even if the network acquired them, Rick & Morty’s hilariously harsh, dark, and violent tone would clash brutally with the saccharine sweetness of 90s TV if the theory were true, which makes it difficult to imagine the very G-rated Ms. Frizzle partnering up with the explosively self-destructive Rick.
It is, admittedly, unlikely that the much-loved Magic School Bus heroine will be making an appearance on Rick & Morty any time soon. Like a lot of fan theories that unite two or more fictional universes, the premise of a crossover could well run into a quagmire on complicated rights issues, not to mention the fact that viewer’s fond memories of The Magic School Bus would likely be irreversibly defiled by seeing Ms. Frizzle interacting with the R-rated denizens of Rick & Morty’s fictional universe. That said, despite the likely lack of a pay-off, it’s still a fun bit of Rick & Morty fan theorizing and an interesting thought experiment (at least unit Adult Swim purchase the rights to The Magic School Bus).
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